The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2024)
The NuSTAR Local AGN N H Distribution Survey (NuLANDS). I. Toward a Truly Representative Column Density Distribution in the Local Universe
- Peter G. Boorman,
- Poshak Gandhi,
- Johannes Buchner,
- Daniel Stern,
- Claudio Ricci,
- Mislav Baloković,
- Daniel Asmus,
- Fiona A. Harrison,
- Jiří Svoboda,
- Claire Greenwell,
- Michael J. Koss,
- David M. Alexander,
- Adlyka Annuar,
- Franz E. Bauer,
- William N. Brandt,
- Murray Brightman,
- Francesca Civano,
- Chien-Ting J. Chen,
- Duncan Farrah,
- Karl Forster,
- Brian Grefenstette,
- Sebastian F. Hönig,
- Adam B. Hill,
- Elias Kammoun,
- George Lansbury,
- Lauranne Lanz,
- Stephanie LaMassa,
- Kristin Madsen,
- Stefano Marchesi,
- Matthew Middleton,
- Beatriz Mingo,
- Michael L. Parker,
- Ezequiel Treister,
- Yoshihiro Ueda,
- C. Megan Urry,
- Luca Zappacosta
Affiliations
- Peter G. Boorman
- ORCiD
- Cahill Center for Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology , 1216 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA ; [email protected]; Department of Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering, University of Southampton , Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK; Astronomical Institute , Academy of Sciences, Boční II 1401, CZ-14131 Prague, Czech Republic
- Poshak Gandhi
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering, University of Southampton , Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK
- Johannes Buchner
- ORCiD
- Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics , Giessenbachstrasse, 85741 Garching, Germany; Instituto de Astrofísica and Centro de Astroingeniería, Facultad de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile , Campus San Joaquín, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Macul Santiago, Chile; Excellence Cluster Universe , Boltzmannstr. 2, D-85748, Garching, Germany
- Daniel Stern
- ORCiD
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
- Claudio Ricci
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Estudios Astrofísicos, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Diego Portales , Av. Ejército Libertador 441, Santiago, Chile; Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China
- Mislav Baloković
- ORCiD
- Yale Center for Astronomy & Astrophysics , 219 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Department of Physics, Yale University , P.O. Box 208120, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
- Daniel Asmus
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering, University of Southampton , Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK; Gymnasium Schwarzenbek , 21493 Schwarzenbek, Germany
- Fiona A. Harrison
- ORCiD
- Cahill Center for Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology , 1216 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA ; [email protected]
- Jiří Svoboda
- ORCiD
- Astronomical Institute , Academy of Sciences, Boční II 1401, CZ-14131 Prague, Czech Republic
- Claire Greenwell
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering, University of Southampton , Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK; Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, Department of Physics, Durham University , South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
- Michael J. Koss
- ORCiD
- Eureka Scientific , 2452 Delmer Street Suite 100, Oakland, CA 94602-3017, USA
- David M. Alexander
- ORCiD
- Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, Department of Physics, Durham University , South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
- Adlyka Annuar
- ORCiD
- Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, Department of Physics, Durham University , South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK; Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia , 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
- Franz E. Bauer
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Astrofísica and Centro de Astroingeniería, Facultad de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile , Campus San Joaquín, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Macul Santiago, Chile; Millennium Institute of Astrophysics, Nuncio Monseñor Sótero Sanz 100, Of 104, Providencia, Santiago, Chile; Space Science Institute , 4750 Walnut Street, Suite 205, Boulder, CO 80301, USA
- William N. Brandt
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University , 525 Davey Lab, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA; Department of Physics, 104 Davey Lab, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA 16802, USA
- Murray Brightman
- ORCiD
- Cahill Center for Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology , 1216 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA ; [email protected]
- Francesca Civano
- ORCiD
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Chien-Ting J. Chen
- ORCiD
- Science and Technology Institute, Universities Space Research Association , Huntsville, AL 35805, USA; Astrophysics Office, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center , ST12, Huntsville, AL 35812, USA
- Duncan Farrah
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa , 2505 Correa Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA; Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai‘i , 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
- Karl Forster
- ORCiD
- Cahill Center for Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology , 1216 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA ; [email protected]
- Brian Grefenstette
- ORCiD
- Cahill Center for Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology , 1216 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA ; [email protected]
- Sebastian F. Hönig
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering, University of Southampton , Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK
- Adam B. Hill
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering, University of Southampton , Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK; ComplyAdvantage , 2nd Floor, Fetter Yard, Fetter Lane, London, EC4A 1AD, UK
- Elias Kammoun
- ORCiD
- Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica, Università Roma Tre , via della Vasca Navale 84, I-00146 Rome, Italy; INAF—Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri , Largo Enrico Fermi 5, I-50125 Firenze, Italy
- George Lansbury
- ORCiD
- European Southern Observatory , Karl-Schwarzschild str. 2, D-85748 Garching bei München, Germany; Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK
- Lauranne Lanz
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, The College of New Jersey , 2000 Pennington Road, Ewing, NJ 08628, USA
- Stephanie LaMassa
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Kristin Madsen
- ORCiD
- CRESST and X-ray Astrophysics Laboratory , NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Stefano Marchesi
- ORCiD
- Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia (DIFA) Augusto Righi, Università di Bologna , via Gobetti 93/2, I-40129 Bologna, Italy; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University , Kinard Lab of Physics, Clemson, SC 29634, USA; INAF—Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna , Via Piero Gobetti, 93/3, 40129, Bologna, Italy
- Matthew Middleton
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering, University of Southampton , Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK
- Beatriz Mingo
- ORCiD
- School of Physical Sciences, The Open University , Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK
- Michael L. Parker
- ORCiD
- Optibrium Ltd. , Blenheim House, Cambridge Innovation Park, Denny End Road, Waterbeach, Cambridge, CB25 9GL, UK
- Ezequiel Treister
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Astrofísica and Centro de Astroingeniería, Facultad de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile , Campus San Joaquín, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Macul Santiago, Chile
- Yoshihiro Ueda
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, Kyoto University , Kitashirakawa-Oiwake-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
- C. Megan Urry
- ORCiD
- Yale Center for Astronomy & Astrophysics , 219 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; Department of Physics, Yale University , P.O. Box 208120, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
- Luca Zappacosta
- ORCiD
- INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma , via di Frascati 33, 00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Italy
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad8236
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 978,
no. 1
p. 118
Abstract
Hard X-ray-selected samples of active galactic nuclei (AGN) provide one of the cleanest views of supermassive black hole accretion but are biased against objects obscured by Compton-thick gas column densities of N _H > 10 ^24 cm ^−2 . To tackle this issue, we present the NuSTAR Local AGN N _H Distribution Survey (NuLANDS)—a legacy sample of 122 nearby ( z < 0.044) AGN primarily selected to have warm infrared colors from IRAS between 25 and 60 μ m. We show that optically classified Type 1 and 2 AGN in NuLANDS are indistinguishable in terms of optical [O iii ] line flux and mid-to-far-infrared AGN continuum bolometric indicators, as expected from an isotropically selected AGN sample, while Type 2 AGN are deficient in terms of their observed hard X-ray flux. By testing many X-ray spectroscopic models, we show the measured line-of-sight column density varies on average by ∼1.4 orders of magnitude depending on the obscurer geometry. To circumvent such issues, we propagate the uncertainties per source into the parent column density distribution, finding a directly measured Compton-thick fraction of 35% ± 9%. By construction, our sample will miss sources affected by severe narrow-line reddening, and thus segregates sources dominated by small-scale nuclear obscuration from large-scale host-galaxy obscuration. This bias implies an even higher intrinsic obscured AGN fraction may be possible, although tests for additional biases arising from our infrared selection find no strong effects on the measured column density distribution. NuLANDS thus holds potential as an optimized sample for future follow-up with current and next-generation instruments aiming to study the local AGN population in an isotropic manner.
Keywords
